Thanks to the paper for covering the recent meeting of California TB controllers, which was held in Oakland on World TB Day, March 26. Although TB is the biggest killer of people with HIV/AIDS globally, the article pointed out that TB rates have declined in California and is largely found among foreign born.

I would also point out that TB knows no borders and is becoming increasingly drug-resistant, although most cases are curable if people have access to testing, treatment and health care.

Our California public health departments do a great job, but they are struggling. Without continual public health programs, TB, polio and other epidemics will rebound and research and treatment programs cannot take their funding for granted.

I ask readers and the paper to let Gov. Jerry Brown, your Assembly members and state senators know of your support for expanded funding for public health programs in the California 2015 budgets.

Ask your members of Congress to support funding for global and domestic public health in our 2015 federal budget.

Sue Oehser

Oakland

Letter about Israel is full of inaccuracies

The paper hit a low with the inaccurate April 10 letter, “Ignoring Israel’s transgressions.”

The Jews stole Palestine? Excuse me. The Jews put Jerusalem on the map in the first place. Just because there is now a mosque planted on top of the site of the first and second Jewish temples does not make this area Palestinian.

Judaism is named after the land of Judea, which is full of centuries of Jewish history. The area is now commonly known as the West Bank (of the Jordan River), due to years of Israelis hoping that acceptance of the Arab narrative will buy peace.

Israel doesn’t want to stop the Palestinians from having a state. What Israel wants is a peaceful end to the conflict with no more claims. Israel wants a settlement that brings real peace to the region — an Arab state and a Jewish state living side by side in peace. Or better yet and more accurately, 57 Muslim states, 22 Arab states and one Jewish state living side by side in peace.

Sheree Roth

Palo Alto

American dream has been crushed

Many people might be feeling some sticker shock this week with the increase in federal and states taxes they are now paying.

As of 2013, you can no longer deduct your children if you make over $250,000. It doesn’t get much more anti-American than this. Also, many other deductions will now be gone, thanks to Obamacare.

Hard working and educated professionals are being taxed to death to take care of everyone else. Why work so hard when the government takes well over 50 percent of their income away?

Redistribution of wealth and communism are happening right before our eyes. We need to bring this country back to what it once was.

The American dream used to be to go to college, have a family, buy a house and become successful. Now, the American dream has been crushed due to taxation without representation.

President Barack Obama is teaching our children that work ethic and education do not matter. Just sit back, smoke some joints and enjoy the ride.

Jennifer Fordyce

Walnut Creek

In California, voter fraud is a real thing

California is the only state in the country that has not complied with the federal government’s 2002 Help America Vote Act, which implements a statewide voter identification database.

California Democrats are now promising a statewide database by 2017. Secretary of State Debra Bowen has hired, without competitive bids, tech firm CGI, the same contractor who built the failed Obamacare websites, to build our voter database. I do not expect to see a finished product by 2017.

Why is this important? For example, Rep. Jerry McNerney’s district spans three counties. Without a statewide database, a person can vote in all three counties and not be caught. And with no picture ID, the same person can vote in all three counties multiple times.

Voter fraud is real in California. We will not know its true extent as long as Democrats are allowed to sabotage the effort to stop it.

Hal Bray

Brentwood

Krauthammer is an intelligent person

I used to write letters to the editor raving about columnist Molly Ivins. Several poor cowards sent me unsigned mail castigating me; some had cutout letters and rather nasty name-calling.

I hope the authors of recent letters regarding Charles Krauthammer don’t suffer such mail. Even as a liberal thinker, I’m all for him, an intelligent person.

In closed door talks, Sen. Dianne Feinstein agreed to a major new water policy for California that sells out the Delta and guts Endangered Species Act protections. Sen. Barbara Boxer is fighting the good fight to remove the rider from her comprehensive water infrastructure bill, but it may take a presidential veto.